


Dunk Shot

by hmsonny



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Angst, Angst and Feels, Fluff and Angst, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 00:25:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmsonny/pseuds/hmsonny
Summary: Life at school was tough until you befriended the captain of the basketball team, renowned for his snarky and nasty nature. You soon learned that to be untrue, but your life begun swerving down a path you'd never expected once he, Jeno Lee, became a part of your world.





	Dunk Shot

**Author's Note:**

> This is long, and quite fast paced, but when I wrote it I was super proud and wanted somewhere to archive it! Hope you enjoy!

There was a time when your family were happy. A time that now seemed like fiction, like a nightmare that lasted eighteen long years and ended with you waking in a different universe, with a different family. Of course, that wasn’t the reality. When you were younger, you had no idea what a loving family felt like - all you knew was thunderous shouting, unkind words burning like poison through your heart, and pressing your headphones against your ears while squeezing your eyes shut in attempts to drown out the sounds you were hearing, whether being spoken directly to you, or those around you. You’d never truly known real happiness, nor real safety.

However, that soon changed after you joined high school and befriended the captain of the basketball team, Jeno Lee. Originally, you’d perceived him as being quite stuck up and maybe even selfish, but how wrong you were to believe those rumours. You’d been rushing to class once, deathly late for an important presentation you were due to give, when you tripped and fell, your notes fluttering in a gentle shower around you. Tears begun pricking the back of your eyes as a pain throbbed in your ankle. To your surprise a hand landed on your shoulder.

“Are you okay?” A worried voice breathed. You looked up to see two sparkling brown eyes looking down on you, a panicked expression spilling over the face of the person they belonged to.

“I’m fine.” You said, taking his hand and letting him pull you up. You grimaced when you put your foot down, and he noticed your pain. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll pick up your stuff.” With that, he slipped his bag off his shoulder and dropped to the floor, sweeping the strewn pieces of paper in to a pile and slipping them in to your folder. “Also uh, your coffee.” He spoke as he did so, causing you to gasp and glance down at your white shirt. Sure enough, there was a brilliant, brown stain the entire way down it. 

“Fantastic.” You muttered, the tears threatening to spill. “Late for my presentation, and now with a coffee stain on my shirt and a probably-broken ankle.” The stranger remained squatted, rummaging through his bag and pulling out a basketball jersey.

“Here, have this.” He smiled, his eyes shaping like half-moons and glowing just as much. “It’s clean, I promise!” You accepted it, balancing terribly with your one good foot. He noticed, and quickly looped an arm around your waist with a quick gasp. 

“J. Lee, huh?” You laughed, noticing the name on the back of the jersey. “You must be the famous Jeno Lee.” He huffed in response. 

“Yeah.” He replied, giggling with what seemed like nerves. 

He’d helped you limp to the toilets that day, and while you were changing, went to your classroom and informed your professor as to what had happened; unbeknownst to you, he’d taken the entire blame upon his own shoulders. “I accidentally tripped her,” He spoke with great urgency. “She’s badly hurt her ankle and needs medical attention so please excuse her from the class. If any punishment is needed it is for me only, professor.” Your professor had merely nodded sternley, before dismissing Jeno and telling him to leave.

The outcome was that your ankle was broken, however very slightly. Between practices and tryouts, Jeno always drove from college to your house to visit, bringing a bunch of flowers for your sister, a handful of treats for your dog, and never forgetting a bar of your favourite chocolate. You grew very close, very quickly; like flowers toward the sun. Life had been undeniably dark up until the point your eyes met Jeno’s. Since he appeared, there had been nothing but sunshine - it seemed as though he was your light at the end of the tunnel. And he felt the exact same way.

He sat by your bedside one night, two months after the cast had been put on your ankle. You sat bundled in tonnes of blankets with snacks spread across the sheets, you invited him in, and soon enough he accepted enthusiastically. 

“Do you ever get scared?” You asked your best friend, the blanket draped over your shoulders. You were so close, in the silence of the room all you could hear was the delicate puffing of Jeno’s breath; even the thumping of his heart.

“Scared?” He repeated, looking over at you.

“Like, just… scared. Maybe not of anything in particular, but maybe the uncertainty of life? I have so many things,” You paused, glancing up at Jeno who had reached over to take your hand in his own. “So many people… I’m scared of losing.” Without letting go of your hand, Jeno shuffled himself over and laced his arm around you, encouraging you to rest your head on his shoulder. He didn’t know about your past, but he knew something had happened, he could tell by the way you spoke.

“Hey.” He trailed his hand down to rub your back for returning and lightly stroking your hair. “I’ll always be here. I’m permanent, you’re never getting rid of me - unless you want me gone. Say the word and I’ll go. But until then, I’m right here.” He paused for a few long moments. “Always.”

In that moment, you felt safety like you’d never known it. In his arms, with his voice speaking softly through the darkness, you felt yourself relax for the first time in years.

Even while your ankle was broken, and sure enough after, you spent almost every hour of every day with Jeno. Accompanying him to practices, going on trips to the beach, to get coffee, strolls through the park; any and every activity you did, was with your best friend by your side. No one had ever made you feel such love before; love that sparked in the core of your heart and burned its way through before exploding like the brightest of fireworks. The basketball team had come to know you and see you like a sister - often, you’d bake them cakes and bring them for after practice.

-

“You nervous?” You asked Jeno as he trotted around the basketball court, the ball slamming the ground every other second, the sound echoing around the gym. It was just yourself and Jeno in the room at this time - he always came early to get some extra practice in.

“Very. This game is gonna be huge.” He leapt, flicking his fingers down and watching as the ball slipped through the net with great ease. 

“Wow, my best friend sure is talented.” You laughed, standing and strolling over to him. He snaked his arms around you, interlacing his fingers by the small of your back as you slipped your arms up over his shoulders; your palms cupping the back of his neck. For seconds you stared; completely and hopelessly lost in one another’s eyes. Jeno bit his lip, before swallowing hard. 

In a split second he leant forward, crashing his lips against yours; your hands sliding back to cup his face as you both deepened and intensified the kiss with great urgency - as if you’d been waiting months for this precise moment. Neither of you wanted to pull away, not even for a second, but eventually you did. Breathless and stunningly astounded, you continued to stare at each other, before breaking in to smiles of pure joy. “We really were waiting for that, huh?” Jeno whispered. You could only giggle in return, before burying your face in his chest, shocked in the most perfect way by what had just happened.

“That was cute.” Came a snarky voice from the doorway. There stood Jaemin, a basketball sat under his arm as he glared at you both, one eyebrow raised. Jeno removed himself from you, but dropped his arm to hold your hand. “But in case you didn’t know, Jeno Lee,” He spoke critically, placing emphasis on Jeno’s name to mock his popularity. “We have a hugely important game to play tomorrow evening.” He begun taking steps toward you. “Our love lives shouldn’t be affecting our game. It’d be a huge shame if I told the coach you were standing in the centre of court making out with someone you’ve known for six months, wouldn’t it? Your captain band would be gone.”

“Go.” Jeno said to you. “Back to your dorm I’ll be there before the game to bring you down.” 

You let go of his hand and left the hall, standing around the corner to listen.

“You think I like her?” You heard Jeno’s muffled voice saying. “Her?”

“Sure seemed like it.” Jaemin snapped in response.

“It’s all part of the persona, dumbass.” Jeno said, before you once again heard the thumping of the ball and tapping of his sneakers on the floor.

All you could do was run. You ran back to your dorm, before isolating yourself the rest of the night, and the first half of the next day.

Jeno never spoke to you before his big game. You only watched on a TV in your flat’s kitchen, knowing the game was being broadcast all across campus, happening in the gym only a five minute walk from your dorm. When Jeno walked in to the changing room, his teammates hollered and howled, intensely questioning him of your whereabouts. He shot a fiery glance at Jaemin, who only smirked and turned to his locker.

Both Jeno and Jaemin knew he’d been lying; but you heard what you heard. Only, Jeno was unaware that you’d heard it.

In the dying moments of the game, Jeno’s team were given a final chance to win. One last field goal with thirty seconds left and the game would be theirs and in turn, so would the trophy; an esteemed trophy indeed, for no one in the district had ever won it before. Chenle skilled the ball through the legs of the opponent, watching as it met Mark’s hands perfectly. Mark then tipped it past the opposite team, lacing it through their bodies and silently celebrating as Jaemin grabbed it. In that split second, Jaemin had the perfect chance to give it to Jeno and finish this off for good. But spite took hold with it’s filthy, unforgiving claws.

How dare Jeno Lee date the girl he’d been crushing on for years? How dare Jeno Lee use his popularity to chirpse her so quickly? No, Jeno Lee didn’t deserve this. Screw the training, I’m taking this one for myself. Jaemin muttered to himself. Just as they’d been rehearsing in training sessions, Jeno had expected the ball to come to him from above, before he shot and netted it. As he leapt, Jaemin swiped his body left and continued dribbling toward the opponent’s basket. Confused, Mark’s brows furrowed and Chenle begun shouting.

“Jaemin! What the fuck are you doing!” Came screams from the coach. The crowd was roaring, unaware that the team’s plan was falling apart at the hands of Jaemin Na. 

Everything came to a sudden freeze when an excruciatingly painful groan came from the direction of Lee Jeno. He’d expected to be receiving the ball, but in the moment, as Jaemin swiped his body away, Jeno’s brain did a stop-start of instructions too quick for Jeno himself to respond. He’d come down badly on his leg and snapped it clean in half. 

The students around you started whispering, a light buzz of hesitant conversation erupting as the cameras showed a split-second shot of Jeno on the floor of the gym. You caught sight of his scrunched up face, tears flowing down the sides of his cheeks, before the connection was cut off and the screen went blank.

You sprinted. An ache shot up your leg as an effect of the ankle injury you had sustained those months ago, but the thought of Jeno being in pain fuelled you. You arrived at the gym, sweaty and short of breath; as you saw the blue lights of the ambulance disappearing into the darkness. Chenle spotted you first, running through the fire exit doors and wrapping his arms around you.

“Where were you?” He asked, as the rest of the team followed on. You were glad it was dark, they couldn’t see the tears that had begun staining your face.

“Jeno said your foot was hurting again so you couldn’t come.” Mark sighed. “Are you okay?” 

It hit you like a train. Jeno had made excuses for you not showing up, knowing too well that Jaemin’s words had struck some kind of chord within you. They had done with him too, which is why he lied. 

“He had a fight with Jaemin before the match.” Jisung spoke up. “Apparently he said something to you that was unfair… something like that. Jeno was pissed. I’ve never seen Jaemin punch someone before-” You gasped, causing him to stop in his tracks. Mark shooed the others away, taking you aside and sitting on the edge of the path with you.

“This break’s bad, I have to be honest with you.” He said, wrapping an arm around you supportively and letting you cry. “They don’t think he’ll be able to play again.” It hurt to hear those words. 

“This is my fault.” You sighed. 

“No-” Mark tried to argue.

“No, Mark it is.” You pulled yourself away from him. “If it weren’t for me, Jaemin wouldn’t have gotten so pissy. Jeno wouldn’t have had to suffer at my hands…” Your voice trailed off. “But if he can’t play anymore, I want to see him. Fuck, I just want to know he’s okay.”

“Oh…” Mark groaned, dropping his face in to his hands. By that point, Chenle had appeared at his side.

“Jeno told us that if you came, tell you to go.” Chenle said, wincing at the very words as if they burned his tongue to speak them. “He… doesn’t want to be friends anymore?” He said the words as if they were a question because honestly, to him, and to everyone else, it was. Why didn’t Jeno want to be involved with you anymore? What had you done wrong?

In that split second, your life had fallen into darkness. The same familiar darkness you’d grown used to, but never thought you’d return to experiencing.

“I understand.” You lied, brushing both boys’ hands off your shoulders and leaving. You walked, jogged, ran; tears streamed from your eyes and washed back with the wind. Jeno had been the only thing tying you down to that college; everything else sucked. Maybe this was your signpost to leave. Everything hurt as you shoved your clothes in to your bags, your arms aching, legs screaming with pain as a migraine engulfed your head, feeling as though your brain was swelling inside your skull. You peered at your phone that sat on your bed. 

[1 New Message: Jen♡]  
It’s true. Please don’t talk to me again. It’s fo... [open for more]

You didn’t open the message, just swiped to delete it, before texting your friend who lived out of town to come and pick you up.

-

It took four years before Jeno returned to the basketball court, a miracle to his doctors. He had to learn to walk again, but his leg had healed and he could slowly begin re-introducing himself to the world of basketball. Jaemin had since moved out of state for family reasons, but was replaced by the young and talented Haechan, who had the biggest love for basketball, and the talent to go with it. 

On the day of Jeno’s first game back on the team, he was greeted in the changing room by thunderous cheers and applause, as well as a banner that read ‘WELCOME BACK, CAPTAIN!’. He choked back tears as everyone crowded him, chanting his name as they partook in the biggest, most carefully boisterous hug known to man. The team’s coach presented him once more with his captain band, before allowing him to give a speech on his return.

“I just wanted to firstly thank you all for being there for me.” He choked up instantly. “I really never thought I’d be able to come back to playing basketball, I thought I’d lost the one thing I’d always treasured most.” That’s when it hit him. The one thing he’d always treasured most; you. He’d caught himself in his facade. Pretending that basketball made him happy this entire time when really, it was his teammates and you. It was always you. Always. 

“So many people… I’m scared of losing.” Your words rolled around and echoed in his mind as he walked out onto the court. The screeching of everyone’s sneakers and chanting of the crowd made his skull ache and his bones quiver. Jeno’s eyes scanned the crowd looking for you; you hadn’t come to see his first game back, and it was his fault. The team won, however only just. As celebrations on the court erupted, a cheerleader grabbed hold of Jeno and kissed him passionately. 

You saw it all happen. Of course you’d watched his first game. Why would you miss it? Even after all these years Jeno was your life, your reason to be, your home. But all you could do was switch off the TV and take yourself to bed. It hurt. Why, after four years, were you still so in love with him? Things had cut off so suddenly, he’d dropped you without giving you explanation, yet your heart still followed him. Clearly, he didn’t feel the same. You took the basketball jersey he’d given you that day in your fist. Your arm was shaking, tensing up as your brain urged you to do it. With that, you dropped the jersey in to the fireplace and left the room.

Jeno pushed the cheerleader off, frowning at her insultingly, before sprinting to the changing room and grabbing his bag. Before he could step foot out of the back exit, Mark grabbed his wrist. “Jeno, no.” He spoke sternly, which was unlike Mark.

“Mark, where is she?” Jeno asked through gritted teeth.

“We don’t know.”

“Where IS she?” Jeno was screaming now, backing Mark in to the changing room and slamming the door closed behind him.

“Jeno she left after you told her to stop talking to you. She packed her bags and she was gone. We have no idea where she went. Not a single clue, no trails, nothing. She changed her number and deleted all of her social medias.” 

Jeno whimpered, launching himself at the lockers that stood in the far corner. He pounded them violently with clenched fists, screaming at the top of his voice, calling himself all the horrific names under the sun, every one is existence being nailed to Jeno Lee, by Jeno Lee himself. Mark cried, for Jeno really had realised the error of his ways, but only once it was too late. He was witnessing the undoing of his best friend, and there was nothing he could do or say that would help.

Once there were dents in every locker, the spare basketballs spilled across the room, Jeno fell to the floor. His body was shaking violently, the continued noise of celebration being replaced by a ringing in his ears as he leant against the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his forehead upon them.

“What have I done?” He whimpered. “What have I done?”


End file.
